The confusion only lasted for a moment. Curiosity followed immediately. He could not understand why it happened, or how it could happen.
What in the world…?
He increased the number of anchors and sent them all inside the house, crowding the places where the previous ones seemed to have just disappeared. The swarm appeared like a thick mass of black vines of varying thickness. He engaged Vein Sight again.
The rate at which his feelers where disappearing was almost on par with how many he was willing into existence. He brought more in. With his sight ability, he focused inside the house, on the spot where his anchors seemed to vanish.
The fuck?
He could not remember the last time he felt a chill run down his spine. The image he was seeing, although incomplete because of the rapidly disappearing anchors, concerned him. It was a large figure, towering and bulky that was responsible. As soon as he got an image of it, he felt it looking back at him.
He willed more of his anchors into view and sent everything from the grounds inside to swarm. Whatever that figure was, it saw his creations. It could affect his anchors. If it could do that, he could hurt it. He decided to swarm it.
As more and more of his anchors swarmed the spot, and as more of them clung into the hulking figure, the better the image. He planned to drown it, to imprison it. Make it his own. He watched the anchors envelop the figure. He howled in pain.
The figure did not only dispatch and cleared a huge section of anchors around it, it also managed to hurt him. The anchors were just an extension of his ability, it had never been able to cause him pain. That was the point of it, it was only supposed to extend his range, and yet it happened. For the second time now.
Anger welled up inside him.
“Yawa ka!” He cursed in his native tongue.
He pooled all of the remaining anchors, including the columns he so carefully built, into four thick tendrils while maintaining his assault on the figure. The four masses circled the figure and he retaliated – all while bring more anchor into existence right inside the house, on the spot where the figure stood.
The figure stopped attacking his anchors. The feeling that it was staring at him grew. Then it came.
He was barely able to up the remaining anchors he had within his area to shield himself. He groaned as pain erupted in different parts of his body, his anchors disappearing on contact.
The intent was clear, he was not going to make it happen. As the air around him filled with a sinister vibe, he dismissed all but the anchors near him and the ones inside the house then saturated the entire area space with an intent of his own – domination.
“I can do that motherfucker!” He yelled.
The figure appeared to rage. In seconds, all of his anchors inside the house were gone. He lost sight of the figure. He blanketed the area around him with more anchors, the ring on his finger becoming uncomfortably warm. He blinked once and the figure stood before him.
He did not need to use Vein Sight, the monstrosity revealed itself to him. He almost cowered. He was not tall, but he wasn’t short either. The hulking figure in front of him was almost twice his height. It growled.
All the hairs on his body stood up. It was not anything he had heard before. It stood there like it was glaring at him, its face concealed by the dark. Its whole figure seemed to ripple, like worms were crawling underneath the skin. He attacked. And failed.
The onslaught of conflicting thoughts, of dissonant emotions he unleashed upon the figure did not elicit a reaction. He unleashed the intent to kill, strengthening it as much as he could without compromising his guard. Everything around them went silent.
He heard the fluttering of bird’s wings and their panicked chirps. All the insects fell silent. The figure was unmoved. It started walking in his direction.
He was outmatched. Even when the ring on his finger got hot from all his efforts, the figure was untouched. He started backing off, the building fear within him causing him to swallow nonexistent spit.
What the hell are you?
As his pace increased, he felt the breeze pick up. He caught shadows in the periphery of his vision but did not tear his gaze away from the hulking figure who approached him in measured steps. The shadows seemed to converge towards them. The figure growled again. Louder this time.
He was able to make out vague figures as the shadows approached. They seemed to glide in the air. The monster in front of him raged and went for the first one to close in as the breeze picked up.
Fuck this!
He turned and ran the way he came, as fast as his feet would take him.
~0~
While Emmy did not hear the first one, the second was hard to missing. She was already done brushing her teeth when it came. No guessing was required, it was Matt.
She ran out of their room while agonizing on how her husband would cry out like that. Or why he did so in the first place. She found her daughters standing outside Jean’s room.
“Stay there.” She commanded as she stepped inside.
Gina held on to her little sister and huddled just outside the room, peeking in. Emmy cautiously walked in, eyes doing a quick sweep before finally settling in on her husband.
The sight of him, passed out on the floor made her gasp. She ran to him and shook him by the shoulders while asking him to wake up. Her voice betrayed her concern before she caught herself and tried to reign her emotions in. The last thing the children needed was seeing her panic while Matt was unconscious.
He did not stir. Emmy tried to maneuver him onto his back to make him comfortable. She caught sight of his cheeks glistening as the light hit it. He seemed to be fine. Except he would not wake up.
What happened to you, babe?
She heard the shuffling of feet behind her and turned to see her daughters approaching carefully.
“Seems your dad has slipped and hit his head.” She lied.
“Is he okay?” Gina asked.
“Yeah, he is.” Emmy answered, trying to keep her voice as neutral as possible. “But he seems to have passed out. He’s going to be sleeping here, I guess.”
“Yay!” Jean exclaimed.
“You girls go to Gina’s room for now, I’ll just prepare our sleeping spaces. I’ll call you when everything’s ready. Gina? Would you like to sleep here too?”
“Maybe?”
“Well, I think I’ll be sleeping here so if you want to join us, bring your pillows and blankets when I call.”
Gina shrugged and turned. Jean followed her to her room.
Emmy had to dismiss the children. She was baffled. She dwelt on it as she headed back to their room to get not only their pillows and blankets but also a fresh set of clothes for Matt. Something spooked her husband so much that he did not only pass out, he pissed himself too.
She called for the girls once she was done changing Matts clothes and asked them to help her set up sleeping mats on the floor. Jean decided to sleep on floor, sandwiched between Emmy and Matt. Gina was just too happy to take the bed.
With everyone settled in, Emmy stood up to lock the door. She left the lights on including the ones in the corridor. Only then did she prepare to sleep.
The girls also did the same. Only several minutes before Emmy noticed that both were already asleep. As she too started to doze off, a thought occurred to her. It seemed like she heard the floorboards outside the room creaking. Then, she fell asleep.
~0~
“If there’s anything I know son, it’s that you are one of one.” The voice on the other end of the line explained. “You know there are no records of people like you.”
“Probably because they were burned at the stake?” Cain offered.
Any other priest he was talking to, they would have been slightly offended. But not Father Anton, his mentor.
“A regrettable period in the church’s history, yes. But, as I was saying, if there are no records of people like you, then we can assume to a high degree that there will be none about this thing you speak of.”
“Will you at least check for me, Father? I mean, I’m not exactly a secret among the IAE. Maybe someone might know something or heard something.”
“Sure. But don’t keep your hopes up. Listen, my advice? Don’t dwell on it. That’s just life. There’s always something to surprise you. Even when you think there’s nothing left that can.”
He heard the older man chuckle on the other line.
“Maybe you’re right. Thank you, Father.”
“Any time son. Well, I gotta go. Got an early mass tomorrow and it’s close to midnight now.”
“Bye Father, thanks again.”
He heard the line click before he could put the receiver down. He could not take his mentor’s advice. It bugged him. All the years since he became aware of his gift, he had never come across a person like Jayren. The phone rang, rousing him from his thoughts. It was Jon.
Cain almost groaned when he saw the name on the caller ID. Jon did things like this. Sometimes he got caught up in an idea for his channel, sometimes for a possible investigation. In such cases, Jon seemed to lose proper decorum. He didn’t care what time it was. It could be three in the morning, he would still call.
“Jon?”
“Hey man, so uh, that thing you asked me to do?”
“Yeah?”
“It’s gone man. Like, Jesus! I don’t know what to make of it. It’s gone. Texts, call logs, emails, all of it! Even the thing I printed about her supposed classes at the university, gone!”
“You’re saying you’ve been burgled? By her?” Cain attempted to joke but his thoughts was already asking what the chances of those things happening were.
“C’mon Cain. You know exactly what I mean. It’s like she never existed. What the hell dude?! This is creeping me out!”
“All these years tagging along, now you’re creeped out?”
“You’re creeped out too. That’s why you brought it up. Also, there’s something else.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, there is. I think you better listen to it. Will save both of us some time.”
“Alright.”
“I’m putting you on speakerphone. Remember, this has not been processed yet. It’s as raw as it comes.”
Cain heard scratching noises in the background as Jon put him on speaker and tinkered around. He heard the recording of their interview earlier that day. Cain placed his phone on speaker as well, cranking up the volume.
As he listened, he started leaning towards the phone on the phone on the table unconsciously. His expression turned grim.
The recording he was hearing, only featured two voices – Jon’s and his.